The Week That Was

Busy, busy couple of weeks.

Just finished my first week of my second student teaching placement. I am in an 8:1:1 Special Education classroom in Spencerport, which aside from the commute time is not that different from teaching at Freddie Thomas.

The days are busy and there are a million things going on. The hardest part for me is that I am actually only teaching social studies for about 40 minutes a day. The experience is great and my cooperation teaching has been awesome. I just have a hard time seeing myself taking over the room and doing all she does in a few short weeks.

Avi has been awesome. We are taking her ice skating this evening so I should have some new video and pictures up soon.

The teaching portion of my Master's degree is quickly coming to a close. I have a lot of loose ends to tie up so that I can say when this is done is a few months that I am going to be certified by September.

Went to go see "How to Train Your Dragon" last night with D. Not to name drop but my best friend is a producer for Dreamworks and he strongly recommended we go see it. Absolutely loved it.

Not sure if I would put it ahead of "Kung Fu Panda" as far as Dreamworks animated movies go. I really loved the Fu. But I would place it ahead of a few Pixar films on my list of favorite animated films.

The visuals were just amazing. It was almost the Anti-Eragon (don't get me started on my hatred of Eragon). I loved that the kid needed the dragon as much as the dragon needed him, it made for a very touching story.

I love leaving a theatre feeling content with the cash we just laid down.

As far as what is exiting me right now.

Check THIS OUT

Best. Thing. I. Have. Ever. Seen (thanks Drew)

Those who know me know that the list of things that I hate consists of the following in no particular order:

Aliens
Robots
Vamipres
Zombies
and Diseases

(Although I love Alien Robots)

But if there is an alien I love, it's Predator. At least Predator makes no excuses about what he is going to do to you. He is going to kill you. And if you put up a good fight, he is going to tear your skull and spine out of your carcass, he is going to polish it, and he is going to hang it on his wall with all his other trophies.

Unlike Aliens, who impregnate you with thier offspring and use you like some twisted incubator, Predator finishes you quickly.

And, Predator loves to kill Aliens, which is awesome.

This movie is going to be awesome. (Which is exactly what I said after seeing the trailer for Alien v. Predator Requiem, which failed, epically)

Crappy Historical Movies, Good Historical Movies

It has been a weird weekend for movies on TV. I have spent most of the weekend inside, playing with Avi and preparing for next week, which means I have found my butt firnly planted on the couch.

I watched "Revolution", which was an excellent historical film, followed by "The Patriot" which is a terrible historical film.

Then today, I turned on the Disney channel while Avi ate her lunch after an awesome sledding trip, only to find the most awful of awful historical films, "Pocahantas" on. In an amazing turn of events, there is an awesome historical film that deals with the same subject matter on right now, I love "Dances with Wolves" and am even able to forgive the historical inaccuracies and perpetuation of the "Nobel Savage" myth.


I just thought it was interesting.

Is it just me, or does Disney's Pochahantas look strikingly like Kim Kardashian?

What I Am Reading

Last week I finished the Mistborn Trilogy for the second time.

I am very boring in that I continue to read and re-read the same books over and over when I find something I like, I think this must be genetic.

Anyways, I loved this series even more this time. I have Drew to thank, again, for getting me to read this. I am dedicating myself to reading all 12 books in The Wheel of Time series. I have finally come to grips with the fact that Drew knows what he is talking about when it comes to fantasy books.

Having just watched the utter crap-fest that was Percy Jackson and the Olympians I have little faith in Books to Movies adaptations right now, but the talk of a potential "Mistborn" movie gets me very excited. The way the action in this series is written would translate beautifully to film, it is sort of Harry Potter, meets LORT, meets the Matrix meets Awesome.

One of my favorite things about reading fantasy books is checking out other people's interpretations of the characters in Fan Art sites. My favorite Harry Potter site is Acciobrain!

Some of the best stuff I have ever drawn/painted has been the Wheel of Time stuff I did for Drew (which I should have him take pictures of so I can post it...Drew, are you reading this?)

The Mistborn artwork that is out there is limited at this point. I have sketched out some Inquisitors, but haven't had the time to really work on them. I will post a few of my favorites that Google Images was able to pull up.







Sweet Koloss transition




















Vin doing her Misborn thing





















And finally, my favorite of Vin, hauling around a way-too-big-but-still-bad-ass Koloss sword.

I'll Go See It

And yes for you UFC fans out there, that is Quenton "Rampage" Jackson playing the role of Sgt. Bosco 'B.A.' Baracus...Looks like a lot of fun.

I will say that I think it says a lot about the state of Hollywood that they continue to remake old movies/shows, and as it has been stated ad nausem, the highest grossing film currently, Avatar "Borrowed" most of it's material from other sources.

Never Again...

Will I ever doubt Pixar.

I thought when I saw the trailers for Up I thought it looked kind of stupid. I don't really like old people, or fat little kids. So seeing a film that focused on an old guy, and a fat little kid was not something I was terribly keen to do.

Then people started seeing it, and loving it, and I said, I get to it when I get to it.

Well, Christmas night, The Girl and I decided to watch it after opening our (awesome) gifts to each other.

And this is me saying, I will never again doubt the awesome power of Pixar when it comes to telling a story.

They knocked it out of the park again. Up is awesome.

I. Cannot. Wait

I thought the first one was brilliant. RDII has to be considered one of the best actors going.

Terrence Howard may regret the fact that he was a dick and didn't sign on for part two.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians

It is not Harry Potter.

Nothing ever will be.

But it is good. It is written from a first person perspective, and he is funny. The books are full of references to ancient mythologies that I either forgot, or never learned, which is awesome. They are fun to read and I am really looking forward to the first film. It looks edgy and funny.

The Princess and the Frog

Disney's "Princess and the Frog" marks a return to traditional animation and I couldn't be more excited.

Disney, in an incredibly short-sited move, killed thier hand-drawn animation department. They saw what Pixar and Dreamworks were doing and realized they were failing, epically.

The problem wasn't that people didn't want to watch hand drawn films, they didn't want to watch crappy hand drawn films.

Pixar is awesome because they make awesome films. The stories are rich and original. Yes they are visually breathtaking, but so are tons of 3D films that have come out (see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs), but that doesn't make up for a lack of a story.

Thankfully, someone at Disney realized that they were making a mistake, and now they give us this:



Thankfully, Avi will grow up talking about Tiana.

Toy Story 3

Pixar continues to strike gold with everything they release. No studio in the history of film has had a run like they have...











I am crazy for this stuff.

I have lived through this revolution and it has been incredible. The changes that my generation has witnessed, and been a part of, it sometimes is overwhelming.

How You Like Me Now?

9

Just because Summer is over, does not mean that The Summer of the Movie© is over.

I am looking forward to this as much as I have any movie this summer.

Saw This Last Night

I cried, and every single hair on the back of my neck was standing up. I don't want to allow myself to get as excited as I am getting.

The Summer of Movies continues.

Adding... "Fight Back, you Coward" if only Harry knew.

A Great Artist Can Come From Anywhere

Terminator, Salvation

I took myself to see this Saturday night. I was not disappointed. It was exactly what I thought it was. I enjoyed the hell out of it. And in a weird twist of irony, I found myself cheering for the robot, which is crazy.

So far, I would rank it ahead of Wolverine but behind the awesomeness that was Star Trek.

The Summer of Movies continues.

I'm Like You Tom, I'm Different

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

My excitement is building for this.

I am on record having said that the 5th movie was head and shoulders the best of the lot. I still have issues with the series in film. Most of my issues center on Michael Gambon and his refusal to read the books. If he were to read them, I am sure he would come to the same conclusion that I have, the dude sucks as Dumbledore.

The Summer of the Movie continues.

RDJR

Once again proving that Robert Downey Jr. is the man.

This looks awesome. Too bad it doesn't come out this summer, I could add it to my summer movie line-up.

Speaking of my summer movie line-up. I am going to miss the opening weekend of Terminator, Salvation. I am going camping all weekend, which will as Sidwould say is either going to be really good, or really bad.

That being said, the movie looks friggen awesome. And seeing as Star Trek was better than Wolverine, it only stands to reason that Terminator will be better than Star Trek, and so on.

Sorry for the lazy writing lately. I have been brain dead since school ended.

Two for Two

First Wolverine (which looks like a steaming pile of shit next to this) now Star Trek, next Terminator.

I am now two for two on summer movies. As soon as I left I could not wait for the next installment. I was never a huge Star Trek fan, I have always appreciated it from a distance. I laughed, cried, sat on the edge of my seat, and seriously enjoyed this film. Well played, well played indeed.

Where I'm At

Today I am hating Shane Victorino. He is actually becoming my least favorite player in the league, including Alex Rodriguez.

He has a fat face, which pisses me off. She, I mean He showboats then complains when Reyes Showboats. He interfered with Reyes last night, then stood there with this stupid look on his stupid face like, "got 'cha". I hate this fat little Hawaiian.

I guessed Manny was on steriods. This does not shock me, no one shocks me. If it came out today that David Wright tested positive, I would not be shocked.

We as a society have the most hypocritical stance on the subject of performance enhancing drugs. I don't care. I think the way we have portrayed Barry Bonds as an enemy of the state is unfair. Do I think he took drugs, knowingly? Yes. Do I care, No.

As long as a guy seems sorry, we are quick to forgive. As long as a guy has the good sense to get out before he gets caught, (yes I am looking at you Brett Boone), we don't care.

I don't care. I think Manny is still one of the best right handed hitters in the history of the game. Do I think Albert Pujols, arguably the best firstbasemen in the history of the game has done so without the assistance of something banned? No.

--------------------------------------

My semester ended this week. (aside from the project that I still have to do next week that I don't even want to think about right now).

Getting my Masters is harder than I thought it would be.

I saw Wolverine. It was sweet. It kicked off my summer movie extravaganza. Star Trek next, the Terminator, it just keeps getting better.

I assulted an elderly woman yesterday when I was supposed to voulenteering at an elderly home. I sprayed her in the face with purple puffy paint. Sorry Gladys.

The Last One

This is the final trailer for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince which releases either July 15th or 17th.

I can say in all honesty that the hair on the back of my neck stood up through all of this video.

I am about 100 pages from finishing this book for about the sixth time. I think this book is so good because it marks the end of a major part of the series. Until the end of book 6 and the beginning of book 7, Harry could always rely on Dumbledore to act as his guide post. This part of the story ends with the "lightning struck tower" and Dumbledore's death. It is from this point forward that Harry must figure out his path for himself. This culminates with the chapter at Shell Cottage in book 7 where Harry has to come to a final decsion while burrying his fallen friend, Horcruxes or Hallows?

I just finished the chapter last night in which Dumbledore is imploring Harry to see that he does not need to have great power to defeat Voldemort. Harry replies that the Prophecy states that one of them must die, and Dumbledore responds that Harry continues to put too much store into the prophecy, that had he never heard the prophecy he would still want to see Voldemort killed, and would want to be the one to do it.

At the end of the chapter, Harry thinks to himself that walking into the arena facing his own death is much better than being dragged into it, and that made all the difference.

It is in this realization that we see the seeds being planted for Harry's ultimate decision to face his own death by walking back into the forest, along side his parents, Sirius and Lupin near the end of book 7. I can't wait for this movie.

Can't Wait

And Most Importantly: